Tortallan Mage Stranger in Tortall
by mashka96
Summary: Adrie gets magically placed in tortall follow her adventures as they get crazier, with just a sprinkle of romance!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Tamora Peirce owns everything except what I invented myself.

This is at the time of Wild Magic.

"Mom, I'm home!" Adriana yelled, slamming the door. "If you need me I'm in my room." Adriana was not an average girl when it came to looks. Her eyes were the color of the sky on a rainy day. Her lips were naturally reddish and full. Perfect ski slope nose made her face seen delicate, even though she had a strong jaw bone, high cheekbones, and a chin that made her look very stubborn. Her porcelain skin without flaws made every girl envious, but the long, straight black hair added to the rest of her features made her face look inhumanly beautiful.

She grunted under the weight of her backpack, which was filled with school books, and got a wild desire to throw them in the garbage can. She wasn't exactly a straight A student. Far from that. More like Cs and Ds. She was only good at sword fighting. People didn't normally use real swords and daggers, but Adriana's parents wanted her to do a sport, and it was the only one she was willing to do. The dagger and sword were with her ALWAYS. Never did she go outside or anywhere without at least 1 dagger. It was one of her safety precautions. She was the type of girl who would stand up for all her friends, even though she was a little insecure about herself. Most people thought her to be snooty or stuck-up because of her looks and money. The one thing you did not want to do was make her loose her temper, which she rarely did, but if she did, you had better watch out. Her eyes turned the color of ice, and she'd practically freeze you on the spot. No, people tried to steer clear of her famous temper. She had a type of aura around her that proved her dominant over everybody. She went into her room and threw her backpack on the floor of her room. Sighing she picked up the book they had to finish reading in class tonight. Wild Magic was an interesting book, she would have admitted that, but she wouldn't have exactly spent the whole day reading in if she had a choice.

She opened it to some random page and started reading, but she just wasn't into it. She sighed again and got up to go swimming. Her family owned a big pool, so she changed out of her clothes into a bikini, put on shorts and a strapless shirt, her sword and all her daggers and went outside. When she got to the pool, her huge German shepherd came running at her full speed. She got knocked into the water, and everything became black.

All of a sudden, she felt the sun shining on her and wakes up to find the face of a girl looking at her.

"Who are you? Where am I? What am I doing here?"

"I'm Daine Sarrasri, and who are you?"

"I'm Adriana Moure, but call me Adrie. Where am I?"

"You're in Tortall, in the royal forest!" she exclaimed.

"Tortall?" Realization dawned on her. "No. No, no, no, no, no. this can't be Tortall! Tortall isn't real. You're kidding right?"

"No, Tortall is real, and you're in it," Daine said, clearly confused. "Why wouldn't it be real? If it wasn't real, you wouldn't be in it right now." The girl was laughing, and helping Adrie up. They started walking back to the camp, and Adrie was looking at all the trees there were, and flowers. Suddenly, she started swatting at mosquitoes that were getting really close to her.

"You might want to get some breeches if you don't want to be swollen with mosquito bites by the end of this day. By the way, where are you from?"

"I'm from California, but I doubt you know were it is."

"You're right, I don't know were it is, even though I've studied the globe with Numair, my teacher. I'll introduce you when we get there."

"How old are you?" asked Adrie, seeing that Daine was about 13 or 14, her age.

"I'm 14. How old are you?

"I'm 14 too! That's really cool. I've made of a friend on my very first day here! Unless, you don't want to be friends do you?" Adrie's eyes were wide and she was looking at Daine worriedly.

"Of course I want to be friends! Why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know, because you don't know me? Hey, do you do any sports, or do you have any practice fields were I can practice sword fighting? I really enjoy that sport." Adrie said, eyes dancing.

"Yea, we do. You could even challenge some of our squires or pages if you are good. If you're not, I advise you not to try. They'll have you on your rump in no time." Adrie laughed openly about that.

"I probably won't get thrown on my rump if I have anything to do with it. I'm not bragging, but I was the best in my class in sword wielding and dagger throwing."

"If you don't mind, can I see your sword? It looks really nice. Is it from the Raven armory?"

"No, it's not from the Raven Armory, but it's the same kind of quality. Here." She unsheathed her sword and daggers, who where strapped to her waist and bathing suit. "Choose the one you want to see. These are all I have. I was wearing it and my dog came running at me full speed. He knocked me down into the water and I ended up here. Seeing as this is a place with knights and sword fights and thieves like Alanna the Lionesses husband George, I guess they came in pretty handy." She said while smiling. Daine picked up the sword and held it.

"Wow. I don't specialize in swords, but this is a really good one, maybe even as good as the Lioness' sword. Speaking of the Lioness, how did you know about her? You said you've never been here."

"Thanks for the tip about the sword, and as for Alanna… Okay, you probably won't believe me, but there is a book written about Alanna, you, and Keladry of Mindelan who will be a knight soon. I know everything that will happen to 

you and Alanna and Kel too. I know it's really weird." They stopped because Daine was staring at her intently.

"There is a book written about us, and Tortall?"

"Yep. I know everything that will happen." She replied.

"That's really strange. You'll have to talk to Numair about that. He's the smart one. By the way, do you know if you have wild magic or the gift? I recently discovered I have wild magic. I didn't know till a year ago."

I don't know, but I hope I do. From where I come from, people don't have wild magic OR the gift. We'll see." They were so deep in conversation that they didn't notice that they already reached palace grounds. As soon as they stepped inside the gates, Daine was attacked by a herd of all kinds of animals. Squirrels, dogs, cats, and birds were climbing all over Daine. She greeted all of them cheerfully and introduced Adrie.

"Adrie, I think its time we go visit Numair. I really want to know if you have wild magic or the gift. Preferably wild magic, because I'm the only wild mage, and I'm not even fully trained yet. It would be fun training together wouldn't it?"

"I think it definitely would, because I love animals, and it would be a pleasure to talk to them, shift into them, and be able to go inside there bodies." Daine's eyes were large.

"I can do all that?" she whispered.

"You will be later. Until the time is right, don't do anything. Got it?"

"Yes. Okay, let's go to Numair." They trudged up the pathway to Numair's tower, where they saw all kinds of bright lights coming from there. Daine climbed up the steps and opened the door, while Larisa followed. Numair was doing some kind of spells and didn't notice that Daine and Adrie came in. Daine said, "Numair." He jumped up in his seat before churning toward Daine and her friend. Adrie's first impression of Numair was a tall, graceful man who was about 29. He had raven black hair and a long nose. His eyes looked really tired.

"Sorry to have interrupted you. I was just wondering if you'd check Adrie for wild magic or the gift. She and I don't know if she has it. We were wondering of you'd tell us. Will you?" Daine begged. Numair sighed.

"Fine, if you really want me to. It's nice to meet you, Adrie." He was about to tell Adrie to meditate, when he saw she was already in that position.

"How did she know?" He whispered.

"I don't know. She just did, I guess." Numair came over with a chair and sat down.

"Empty your mind now." He noticed that she already did. _Strange little creature_ he thought. He looked deep inside her and saw that she was filled to the brim with pale blue magic. The brim was about to spill over and she could go mad in just a minute. He did the same thing to her that he did to Daine, to keep her magic within her and stop her from going crazy. He got her out of the trance.

"Mythros!" He exclaimed. "She was just about to go mad with all that gift inside her! It's amazing how she didn't! I will be her trainer. She will train with you Daine, and then come to me for private lessons after she is done working. You do have a job right?" He asked.

"Not really," Adrie told him that, and her entire story of how she came to be there. Daine and Adrie noticed that Numair was looking a little sheepish, when Daine asked him what he did in an exasperated tone.

"You coming to be here probably has something to do with him. People from other realms don't usually pop up here without his help." She explained to a confused Adrie.

"You brought me here? Can you take me back, though I would like to stay here a little longer and get lessons from you, Master Numair." She said hastily.

"Please, enough with the 'Master'. Numair is plain and fine. Do you have any clothes, because you are dressed pretty scantily for Tortall. I don't know about your world but we wear clothes in this one."Adrie blushed a deep red."It's ok, I'm just teasing." He said smiling gently.

"Sorry, I was about to go swimming when you brought me here, so I didn't have any clothes except my shorts, shirt, bathing suit and daggers and sword." She explained.

"Do you have any money for clothes?" Numair asked. Adrie blushed yet again.

"No, no money. The kind of money I have back home would be of no use here since you use gold and copper and we use paper." Adrie told him quietly.

"Oh, well that's not a problem. Since you're my student, it's my duty to provide for you. I will talk to Onua about you getting a job at the barracks and a place to sleep with Daine. Right know, Daine will take you to get new clothes at the tailor's place. Do you were breeches or dresses?" He asked lightly.

"Oh! No girls ever wear dresses from where I come from. Its only breeches that everybody wear, girls and boys alike." She said.

"That's good, because you were going to be wearing breeches anyway. Now shoo, I have to talk to Onua." Both of the girls scurried away as Numair got up. He likes that friend of Daine's. She's smart, and the perfect thing to work with. He smiled to himself and got to work.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

Disclaimer: this belongs to Tamora pierce, except for what I made up

Numair walked swiftly over to the barracks to talk to Onua about the strange new girl. The first thing that he noticed was that she wasn't there. Sighing, he went out to the field, where all the riders, including Onua, were.

"Onua!" He called loudly. "Come here!" Onua came, grumbling.

"Just in case you haven't noticed, some of us work here! What do you want? It better be important," she said, eyebrows furrowed.

"I have a new student mage, do you think you could give her a job and a place to sleep while she's here? I was thinking somewhere near Daine, since that's the first person she met. They seem to have gone off quite nicely. So, could you?"

"I don't know." She sighed. "A place to sleep near Daine wouldn't be trouble, we have an empty barrack. And a job, okay I'll give her a job, except she has to be with Daine, like her apprentice, or something. Daine should teach her all the basic rules, and how we do things around here, ok?"

"Yes, I'll talk to Daine and Adriana about it." He answered, glad that his new student could stay.

"Is that her name, Adriana? That's nice."

"Yes, her nickname is Adrie though. So you'll take her in?"

"Yea, I'll take her. Now I have to go back to work, and you should be getting back to your tower, doing whatever it is that you do." She told him crossly. Numair sighed and went back to doing his spells.

QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ

"Come on!" yelled Daine, as they hurried through the busy marketplace toward the tailor shop. "We have to get you new clothes if you want to look normal by the end of today." Daine wasn't kidding. Adrie had mosquito bites all over her legs, and it was barely 4 o'clock. She just realized that she's been in Tortall for about an hour and a half.

"We're almost there!" Daine yelled, because she was barely heard through the crowd. "Look, were already here," she said. They walked inside.

"Hi, can we get breeches and a shirt for Adrie? She's new here." The tailor beckoned her over with a wave of her hand, and took her measurements. She took out 2 brown breeches, and 2 brown shirts.

"That'll be 1 silver noble." She said. Daine took out the money that Numair gave her and gave it to the tailor.

"Thanks!" Both of them said.

"Ok, we got you clothes, now you need proper shoes." So they bought shoes and returned to the tower to Numair, where he was yet again at one of his spells.

"Numair!" shouted Daine loudly. Numair jumped about three inches out of his chair.

"Mythros! You have to scare me like that every time you come in from that door?" He replied, just a little irritated.

"Yes, I do have to do that," Daine replied with a big grin on her face, "It keeps you sharp, because what can I do with a dull teacher?"

"Ah, magelet. You will be the death of me one day. I see you got Adrie some clothes, good. We shall begin our lessons. Adrie, I take it you know how to meditate?" He asked gently. Adrie blushed and answered quietly.

"Yes, I had to learn from my sword teacher. It was required so we knew how to center ourselves." She answered.

"That's good. It means that we can skip this and go straight to your magic. Now, both of you sit on the floor and meditate. I will look into Adrie and help her locate her magic, like I helped you, Daine." Numair walked over to Adrie and gently put his fingers on her temples.

"Now, look deep inside you. I will just help you concentrate." He started guiding her down. When he saw that she could see her magic he let go gently. He heard her gasp slightly.

"You see, you have a lot of magic. But until you gain full control of it, any little thing will not be very easy." He explained. "Your magic is probably as powerful as mine. You were brimming in it when I first saw you. It's amazing." His eyes showed wonderment. Daine opened one eye and looked first at Adrie then Numair.

"Is she really as powerful as you say she is? That's good. We need more powerful mages. Although it's really sad that I'm still the only wildmage." She sighed and got up.

"Daine, if its ok with you and Numair, may I go out to the practice fields and try my hand at a duel with a squire? Maybe I'll get lucky!" She looked at Numair.

"Can we?" She asked.

"May we, and yes you may." Numair automatically corrected her grammar. Daine grinned and whispered "You better get used to it. He always does that."

"Well girls, you better go. I'm going to try another spell. So shoo, go on, I'll be busy. Oh, I almost forgot, we have a ball coming up, and I would like to introduce you to King Jonathan and Queen Thayet."

"Ok Numair, bye!" both girls yelled already out the door.

Sorry it was short . The next chapter will be better.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Strangest person

Belongs to Tamora Pierce

(Ok, Daine and Adrie won't be working in this chapter because it's Daine's day off. They'll be hanging out.)

Daine and Adriana walked over to the practice fields where they saw all the pages and squires on the courts all of them clashing swords with another. Adrie was taking it all in, enjoying the sun and Tortall in general.

"So, I'm guessing you like it here? It is great don't you think? I love it here. It is so unlike Galla, the place where I used to live." Adriana noticed a sad and distressed look come over Daine's face. "Sorry, I'm rambling again." She looked sad.

"No, no, it's ok."

"Well, we'll have to stop by a tailor's shop again, for a dress for the ball. I think red would suit you very well."

"Thanks." Adriana turned to look at some very tall towers and

walked straight into a boy of about 15 or 16. They both fell down, and the boy got up first and Daine and he both pulled up Adrie.

The boy looked Adriana over, smirked and asked, "So what is a pretty lady of the court like you doing over at this dirty place? Shouldn't you be practicing embroidery or something like that?" He asked still smirking. Adriana's temper grew. She gave him a freezing look, giving her eyes a bright grey, almost white look. The boy looked around nervously and stepped back. Coolly she replied, "I'm here to see if any one here is half decent in a sword fight around here." He looked her over again, stopping at her eyes. Her eyes made him edgy and nervous. Then he remembered that this court wench challenged him.

"Are you sure about this? You picked the best swordsman out of them all. Larant will surely beat you!" She whispered frantically in her ear.

"I can handle it." She replied coolly.

"Are you sure you're even strong enough to pick up a sword yet wield it? Go home and stay there." Adriana looked over at Daine who had backed away. Daine smiled at her, telling her to go for it.

"Well then I challenge you to a swordfight. If I win you don't say another world to me or my friend Daine. If you win, I will do whatever you ask me to do." He reached out his hand to shake hers in a deal. He roared out to the court "Clear the courts! We are to have a sword fight with a guest! This pretty lady challenged me! What do you say to that? Do you really think she will be able to beat me?" The place was quiet, and then it started filling up with snickers, and whispers. Adriana stood strong, and walked to the middle of the court.

"You would think he wouldn't have to keep me waiting, but here I am, while he is bragging to the public about how he can beat me. Well, only time will 

tell, so if you're finished, we can get on with it." She replied icily. They stood both stood and glared at each other on the courts. Larant unsheathed his sword, watching Adrie do the same. Both of them circled around each other. Suddenly Larant ran straight and attacked her. She blocked while he kept attacking. When he retreated, they circled some more around each other and then Adrie feigned left and went right striking him in a pose where their swords were locked together. Now it was a battle of strength. Larant was stronger then Adrie, but Adrie was faster and more nimble. She got her sword out and spun around, getting the tip of her sword under his handle, then giving it a twist, and sent it soaring to the ground. Pressing her sword to his throat, she made him get on his knees. She nudged his throat, not too lightly, expecting him to admit defeat. Larant muttered a barely audible 'I yield'.

"What? I can't hear you." She replied frigidly.

"I yield." It was a little bit louder. She prodded his neck again.

"I yield!" He yelled it this time. Adrie removed her sword, sheathed it, and walked off the court to Daine. Unexpectedly, she got surrounded by boys, all wanting to know how she did that.

"No girls ever beat Larant!"

"Yeah, not even guys can beat him, how come you can?" She got surrounded by questions, and exclamations.

"I have to go now. All that was, was to show you to never underestimate any girls. I can beat you in a sword fight, and you can take my word for it, Daine can beat you in archery. So if you please, I need to go." Without looking at them she pushed past the crowd to Daine. Both of them took off to get away from everybody. They walked in silence for some time before Daine asked, "Do you want to go to the stream and wash your face? Them we can to the tailors and get you a dress for tonight."

"Yeah, that sounds good to me. It wouldn't hurt anyone." Both of them walked a little more in silence. They got the forest, and started looking at the trees, and enjoying the birds chirping.

"I've never been to a ball, what do I do? Is somebody going to announce me?" Adrie looked really worried, like going to the ball just sunk in for her.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine. King Jonathan will announce you, and then you walk to him on the carpet, leading down the stairs. You have to bow while he says all the boring stuff, like where you are from, and stuff like that. When he finishes, you get up and sit down at one of the tables. I was really nervous the first time to, but it was just fine. Don't worry! Nothing will go wrong." She smiled encouragingly to Adrie, who felt a lot better.

"Hey look is that the stream? We got there pretty fast." She said, while running to it.

"Well, it wasn't really far to begin with. Hey Adrie, will you wait here if I run and get some food so we can have a picnic on those rocks over there. It 

seems like a nice place." Adrie looked a little doubtful, bit she said "Sure, I'll wait if you be back quick."

"Don't worry I will, just don't wonder off, ok?"

"Ok, now hurry up." She took off her clothes, until she was just in her bathing suit, which she wore under her clothes. Shaking, she got into the really chilly water. Gradually, she got used to it and started floating on her back enjoying the coldness, with the sun on her face. Her hair spread out like a halo around her._ I could get used to this_, she thought. Closing her eyes, she almost fell asleep, when she felt a presence near her. Subtly, she opened one eye and saw a boy of about 18 or 19 watching her from a tree. She quickly jumped out of the water and grabbed 3 daggers, throwing one of them at the intruder, purposely missing by about an inch, while his head turned right when the dagger hit the tree limb.

"Whoa, are you really trying to kill me?" He said seriously, but trying to hide his smile.

"If I want to kill somebody, i don't try, I do it. How do you think I only got it an inch from you, not straight in your neck?" Her eyes started to glitter dangerously.

"Is it really a crime to watch a pretty girl swim in the water?" He didn't even try to hold back his smile anymore.

"I'm not the kind of girl you would want to watch without permission, and I say you can't." He climbed nimbly down from the tree and offered his hand. Adrie noticed they were callused, with scars on them. She could see the outlines of at least ten flat daggers on his clothes that he could whip out in a second.

"I'm Aiden, who are you?" He said, while shaking her hand. He was tall, about 6'2. Kind of tall compared to Adrie's 5'9. Green eyes and shaggy black hair. A nose that was straight and long. He was all in all handsome. Adrie could see muscles outlined on his shirt. She looked at him suspiciously.

"I'm Adrie. What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was taking a stroll through the forest, when I saw you in the water, so I decided to get a closer look to make sure you weren't dead or anything. Next thing I know, a dagger is flying straight at my neck."

"If you didn't sneak up at me, there would be no dagger flying at your neck." She retorted.

"By the way, where did you learn to throw like that? Are you part of the Rogue?"

"No, I'm not. It's none of your business where I learned to do that."

"Do you always talk to people like that? You know it's not nice." Both of them turned at the sound of somebody running and yelling "I'm back!" Adrie turned to Aiden saying, "I think you better go."

"We'll see each other again, don't worry." With a grin, he disappeared into the forest as quietly as a fox. Daine came up on an Adrie that was lost in thought.

"I just met the strangest person..." she murmured. They spent the rest of the picnic, sitting and talking.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Adrie's magic.

Disclaimer: Same as first 3 chapters

After the picnic, Daine took Adrie to Kuri Taylor. They were trying to pick out the perfect dress for the evening ball. The girls walked in on Kuri sitting at her desk with a measuring tape wrapped around her neck like a snake. She lifted her sharp eyes and gazed at them.

"How may I help you?" She asked, her voice matching her eyes.

"We're here for a fitting. Adrie needs a dress for tonight's ball." Daine replied nervously. Kuri observed Adrie from her face to her hair to her body.

"Red. The dress will be red with gold. Those colors compliment you." She said after a good few minutes. Adrie flushed a pink shade. She mumbled a polite 'thank you'.

"Come here, girl. I need to take your measurements. Kuri swiftly got up and beckoned Adrie over once more. She got her measuring tape of her neck and wrapped it around Adrie's waist, leaving off one inch for comfort.

"Care to explain what tonight's ball is about?" Her eyes never left the tape that was now around Adrie's chest. Daine spoke up earnestly, "Adrie's getting announced. She is to be training with Numair. I heard him say that her magic may be as powerful as his own! Adrie was now turning a nice shade of crimson while Kuri took measurements of her arms now. She looked up.

"Oh, so I should make this dress special, for a special occasion. I'll see what I can do." She smiled, got her measuring tape, and replied, "You girls come back in about 3 hours. The dress should be ready by then. Goodbye." Daine and Adrie left the tailor's shop walking down the street, imagining what the dress would look like.

"I wonder what she's going to put on your dress that will make it more special from everybody else's."

"I hope it'll be pretty. Red and gold sounds really good." Adrie sighed longingly.

"Hey, what are you going to where Daine?" Daine's eyes blazed and she told Adrie about the new dress she got.

"The last time there was a ball here was not too long ago. Numair bought me this gorgeous dress. I never got to were it though, so now I'm going to wear it to this ball." She looked at Adrie, "You won't believe how pretty it is! It's one of the best things I've owned. I was never one to fawn over things, but I really like it. It's a light blue bodice with no shoulders, and a full skirt that's grey."

"Wow, it sounds really pretty. I think we should get back to Numair. He's probably waiting for us."

QQQQQQQQQQQQWWWW 3 hours gone by. QQQQQQQQQQQQWWWWWWW

Daine and Adrie ran through the streets of Corus dodging people and ignoring the yelling. After all, they were late picking up the dress!

They got to the shop and ran in panting. Kuri lifted amused eyes up to them.

"Now you two are going to plop your bottoms right on those two chairs, because nobody is going to try one the dresses on while they are all sweaty." Daine and Adrie sat down, completely worn-out. The sprawled on those chairs like dogs. They didn't dare look at each other because they knew they would burst out laughing. Adrie sneaked a glance at Daine and that set off a whole series of sniggers. After about 15 minutes of laughing, Kuri let Adrie into the dressing room handing her a long bag with the dress inside. Daine waited anxiously outside, hearing shuffling paper. Adrie took the dress out of the bag and gasped.

"What is it? What does it look like? Tell me!" Daine was bursting. Adrie bit down a giggle and answered, "You'll see!" After 5 minutes, she walked out in the most beautiful dress ever. The bodice was strapless and a soft scarlet color. The skirt was full, rustling softly and gracefully when Adrie moved. It was a deeper, more royal and majestic color of burgundy. The whole thing had a transparent material over it that was glowing a golden color. The material was a little bit longer then the gown, and it had a short train. It was wrapped around her arms spiraling down with full sleeves that hung down. The whole transparent material had sparkles stitched on the inside to make it twinkle when the light fell on it. Adrie felt giddy looking at it.

"I love this dress! I can't wait to wear it to the ball!" She exclaimed. Kuri raised one eyebrow and told her to take it off and put it in the bag. After she carefully too off the dress, as so not to rip it, she walked out and started heading home with Daine.

"Everybody will love it! Oh, by the way I forgot to tell you, you start work with me tomorrow. Onua will need the extra help she can get with the new riders. You can either work in the stables with Simon, or go out with me to the field. We can harass the new riders!" Daine smiled evilly.

"Well, I do love working with horses, so I'll probably go with you."

"Ok, we need to get back. Numair probably wants us to work on our lessons right now."

"Ok, let's go." Both girls started running, with the dress trailing behind them.

Qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq Back at the castle wwwwwwwwwwwww

Numair was sleeping on his notes, when he felt a gentle tugging on his shirt. He woke up with a start, turned around, and looked right into the eyes of Daine and Adrie. They were both trying not to smile.

"Is it time for lessons yet?" asked Adrie.

"Girls, I have something to tell you. Adrie, you are to train half with me, half with Alanna. I didn't tell you that you have healing magic, and the plain gift. She will train your healing magic whenever she is here, but she isn't here 

right now. So right now you, Daine, and I will start the lessons. Both of you get some mats and sit in the meditating position." Both girls scuttled to get some mats.

"Daine, you already know how to bring up your magic, so practice right now. I will work with Adrie and teach her." He stood by Adrie.

"Ok, both of you start meditating. Count to seven, hold for seven, and release in 7. Again, count to seven, hold for seven, and release in 7." His voice was gentle and soothing, and soon both girls got in to rhythm and were deep in meditation. Daine drew up her copper magic and peeked at Adrie, hoping she would be laced in copper magic. She sighed in disappointment. Numair was right again, she only had the gift, and no wild magic. She looked around and saw 3 pigeons on the windowsill, cooing. All of them were laced in fiery vines of copper. She went deeper in her magic and called to them, having a friendly conversation. Meanwhile, Numair was trying to get Adrie to see and pull up her magic.

"Adrie, I will put my fingers on your temples and guide you down." He put his fingers on her temples, and started to guide her down, deep within herself. Adrie let out a little gasp when she saw bright blue magic lacing with the lightest silver. She felt Numair let go and tell her to grab the magic in a thin string, and pull it up. After several attempts and a very big headache, Adrie managed to hold it in her mind, and pull it up to her hand. She opened her eyes and looked at her hands. They were both bright blue! She almost lost her grip on the string but she held grabbed it on the last minute. Getting and idea, she went back very deep into herself, and grabbed the biggest rope of her magic. Looking at her hands she saw that her whole body was glowing with the magic! She heard a soft gasp, and looked toward Daine, who was staring fascinated at her. All of a sudden, her magic was abruptly cut off by Numair, whose eyes blazed.

"Don't you ever to that again! At least not if I tell you to! When you grab so much magic, it could explode and kill us on the spot!" Seeing her lower her head, he sighed.

"I'm sorry. It's just dangerous and very unusual that a girl like you could even do that. Only fully trained mages can grab such a thick chunk of magic without it hurting, or even killing them. You really should ask me before you do anything big with your magic. Pulling up a thread to give you some light is fine, but other than that, nothing else that I haven't taught you to control. You have to be able to control your tricks before you do them." Numair sighed. Suddenly, Daine jumped up and yelled, "Stormwings!"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Stormwings!

Adrie noticed that Daine grabbed her bow and started out the door with Numair, so she strapped 10 daggers to herself and ran after them. When she got outside she noticed that almost everybody was there.

She gagged at the smell. Those creatures where the most horrible she had ever seen or smelled! Daine already put out 3 stormwings with her bow and arrows. Numair shot lightning out of his hands, and the king made nets and weaved his magic up their mouths and noses choking the beasts. Adrie saw two stormwings kill innocent animals. Rage filled her. She grabbed two daggers and threw them simultaneously at two stormwings that flew close together dangerously low to the cattle. Both dropped dead with daggers in their throats. Adrie looked up and saw a three stormwings, two males and one female, heading toward her. One after the other, she threw her daggers aiming for the throats. They all screeched a horrible sound like nails on glass and fell down dead.

She looked around and saw a stormwing heading for Daine. Adrie threw another dagger, but it the stormwing turned at the last moment and it bounced of its wings. Throwing 2 more, they hit the stormwing male in the head. Daine nodded her head in Adrie's direction, because she was out of arrows, and couldn't defend herself.

She looked around and saw no more stormwings. Adrie remembered seeing different color magic. She saw Onua and Sarge and remembered that black magic was Numair's, and the blue was the king Jonathan's. All of them killed at least five stormwings each. Daine came over to her with two of Adrie's daggers. Both of them found the remaining six daggers, gagging on the smell, being glad about the fact that they didn't eat anything before this. Numair, Sarge, and Onua walked over to her and looked intently at her. Onua spoke up first.

"Girl, where did you learn to throw like that? And who in Mythros name taught you to lace your daggers with magic so they would kill on impact?" Onua raised on eyebrow.

"You have very good aim, but it does take serious magic to do what you did." This time it was Sarge. Numair just looked at her.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't even know I did that. I guess it just came out of me. I did feel something come out of me eve though I didn't call it up or anything. I was just filled with anger that such monsters would kill for fun. As for the dagger throwing, I had lessons from where I came from." she replied, her eyes lowered.

"Well mistress, you had better learn control. The king saw you do that and he wants to see you after all this is over. Well it was nice meeting you Adrie." Onua said and started walking away. Sarge left too. Daine, Numair, and Adrie left and went back to Numair's work place. Numair stopped her outside the door and sent Daine in.

"What Onua said is true. You need to learn control. Yes you can feel angry, just don't put magic in your weapons, unless somebody tells you to do so. What if you hit Sarge, or Daine, or me? We would me killed on impact like Onua said. It's just luck that you have the best aim like Daine and didn't hit us. So learn control. We will work on that in the next lesson." Numair smiled, "But you know, you are the first mage in history who can fill weapons with magic to make them kill as soon as they hit. Once you learn how to use your magic, you can come in really handy." Adrie smiled. It felt nice to come in handy.

"That's really awesome." She said. Numair opened his door, and ushered Adrie in with a mock bow that was way too deep. Both of them went in and took baths. After that they had dinner of chicken and potatoes.

They were scattered all over, Daine and Adrie on the bed, and Numair on the armchair, when a messenger boy knocked on their door asking for Numair Salmalin, Daine Sarrasri, and Adrianna Moure. He ushered them into the king's room, where Jon was sitting behind a desk with a thoughtful expression on his face and drumming his fingers. Adrie saw the most handsome man in the world. He had black hair and beard, sapphire eyes, and a straight nose. She kept her calm. He looked up and Adrie and Daine curtsied while Numair bowed.

"Ah, I have been expecting you. How are you Daine, Adrie, Numair?" He asked them while getting up.

"Never better Jon. You sent for us so we can talk about Adrie, right?" Numair motioned for Daine and Adrie to stop curtsying.

"That's right. It's nice to meet you Adrianna. Would any of you like something to eat?" Both girls blushed, and Numair answered, "Its ok. We just had something to eat before we came here."

"Adrianna, I've heard some really," he paused, "strange things about you. How come a girl of 14 has such a good aim? And how come you can lace your weapons with magic for true aim? Nobody we know can do that. Not even Numair." He propped his head on his hand.

"You could be very useful to us. Weapons like that could be priceless for war." He looked at her. She felt a flush come up to her face, but she kept composed.

"Please Your Majesty, call me Adrie. I didn't even know I called up on magic. I just knew that I was so angry, something broke loose inside of me. I guess it was my magic, and I learned dagger throwing a long time ago with a very good teacher." She tried standing up straight without shuffling her feet.

"Numair told me how you got here. That was very unusual." He stood up and shook her hand, "Well, we could use more people like you, Adrianna Moure. You helped a lot on this stormwing attack. Why don't we all go get ready for the ball. It starts in an hour. See you then."

Everybody left the room and headed to their own rooms. Daine and Adrie went to put on their dresses. First Daine came out with her gown on to show Adrie and Numair. It was light blue bodice and a grey skirt, with silver trimming and pearl buttons. It was strapless. She had a sheer cloth wrapped around her shoulders and pinned on the front of her dress. It was beautiful.

"Wow. That really is the most beautiful dress." Numair murmured his agreement. Next went in Adrie to change. She came out and Daine said, "I can't wait to show everybody our dresses. They're really pretty."

"You girls go do what you have to do. An hour is barely enough for me to get ready! What am I going to do with my hair?" He fussed and tried to get ready.

"Numair you sound like a girl. It takes us less time to get ready than you." Daine said and laughed with Adrie. Diane and Adrie pinned up each others hair. Adrie made a messy bun on top of Daine head and artfully left curls hanging to frame her pretty face. Daine made a loose and messy side bun with curls hanging over her face too. Both of them put lip rouge and eye shadow on. Adrie put on gold, and Daine put on silver eye shadow. Before everybody knew it, and hour had past and Numair had just finished with his hair.

"Well girls, we're of to the ball!"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: At the Ball

Daine, Adrie, and Numair walked through the chilly night air to the castle, where they waited behind the screen for King Jonathan to announce them. Adrie was so nervous her hands trembled.

"I've never done this before. What if I mess up?" She started pacing.

"Relax, there's nothing to be afraid of." Numair's voice was soothing, "He'll call your name, and you walk up to him and curtsy while he's talking. When he's done you sit down at a table. It's simple. Daine will go first and sit down. You'll go second and sit right by her. I'll go third, but I can't sit with you girls. I have to sit with some boring old scholars who rattle on about how smart they are." That brought a smile to everybody's face.

"Ok girls, he's announcing! Remember Adrie, you sit next to Daine." Everybody could here the announcers booming voice.

"Miss Veralidaine Sarrasri of Tortall, formerly of Galla." Daine walked smoothly down the stairs without tripping and bowed to King Jon while he greeted her.

She sat down then the announcer yelled, "Miss Adrianna Moure, visitor from distant lands." She took a deep breath and started walking down the stairs. She was so scared! Everybody was staring and her and nobody was talking. She lifted her head up in an act of courage and walked that way down the rest of the stairs. When she came up to Jon, She curtsied deeply and gracefully.

"Welcome Miss Adrianna Moure, please stay as long as you like in Tortall."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." She was the picture of grace. She got up effortlessly and sat down next to Daine who congratulated her on a job well done.

"After we eat, there'll be dancing. The pages and squires will serve us." She whispered in her ear while Numair was getting announced. When he sat down, Jon announced that they could start eating. Pages and squires brought out every food possible. There were exotic fruits, like pomegranates, oranges, and figs. The main course was chicken in gravy and hot soup made from sharks' fins. There was chatter everywhere while people at, with an orchestra playing live music.

When the feast was done, Daine and Adrie got up walked over to one of the couches. A clerk named Perin walked up and asked Daine for the first dance. She sighed and when Perin wasn't looking rolled her eyes at Adrie. Adrie tried to hide her smile at the funny way those two interacted. As soon as Daine, Adrie got surrounded by young men wanting to dance with her. Three cups of wine got offered to her at the same time. She looked around, panicking, and trying to find Daine. Suddenly all men grew quiet. One boy came forward with such an aura around him that everyone was quiet.

"May I have this dance?" he asked quietly. Still looking for Daine, she didn't notice his face.

"Yes," she answered while still searching. She looked at the boys' envious faces while she was lead off for a dance. When he put his hand around her waist, she looked up into a familiar face. It was Aiden.

"How did you get in here?" She hissed.

"Lucky for me, I AM in the rogue. I have connections. I am the son of the Baron of Pirate's Swoop best friend. He got me an invitation."

"I don't care for any of this. You should leave."

"I don't think that's for you to decide. Well, the dance is over and I have to hand you over to some noble stuck-up. I'll see you later." He winked at her and left. She got surrounded by suitors again. A boy with sandy brown hair and a nice smile asked for the next dance and she agreed. After dancing for two hours she went back to her room with Daine and Numair. Those two were asleep on their feet and Adrie wasn't even tired. She went to the barracks with Daine after changing and tried to fall asleep. After an hour of trying to fall asleep she got up to take a stroll in the cold night air. Taking six daggers with her for protection, she slipped out the door trying to not wake anybody. She walked for five minutes then breathed in deeply and almost choked when she heard and almost inaudible "hello stranger". Whipping around and producing a dagger she laid it none to gently on the person's neck. The person grabbed her arm and twisted it back, making her drop the dagger. She whipped another one out and hit the person in the crotch, hearing a groan then turned around, grabbed him around the neck from behind and pressed a knife to it.

"OK, ok I give up. You're still as sharp as ever." The voice sounded familiar but a little strained.

"Aiden?"

"You guessed right. Do you usually attack friends during the night?" He sounded like he was smiling.

"I attack strangers. You don't qualify as a friend." He heard the almost inaudible 'yet'.

"How bout a one-in-the-morning swim? We could go to the stream where we first met. The waters good." He started teasing her. "I'll even offer you my protection." She raised one eyebrow and mockingly said, "Really? You would do that for me?"

"Yes, even though you don't really need it." He groaned. That kick must have really hurt, she thought. Sighing she said, "Sure, why not? What's the worst that could happen? Wait for me while I get my swim suit." He leaned against the wall and smiled to himself.

"Ok, let's go." Both of them were fleet-footed so they got there pretty quick. Sighing she got into the water. So did he, yelping a little at the water. She noticed muscles on his arms and waist. He swam in breeches.

"I thought it would be cold, but not this cold." His teeth were chattering as he tried to make a conversation.

"So, where are you from? The east?" He said through chattering.

"A far place from here. You definitely don't know it. It's called California."

"You're right, I don't know it." She sighed and closed her eyes.

"You said you were from the rogue, but you talk like an educated person."

"I had education. Went to school for a little while. Learned to talk properly." She started swimming around in the stream. Aiden caught her foot and pulled her toward him. Holding her by her waist, her grabbed her and towed her to a deeper place in the stream and then dumped her there. She came out gasping and sputtering.

"You do realize that's cold!" She took a big handful of water and dumped it on his head. He shook his head lie a dog ridding it of water. He grabbed her by the waist again and set her on his lap and started talking while she was struggling. Finally she just admitted defeat and sat there.

"What were you saying while you so brutally harassed me?"

"I was saying," he started patiently, like talking to a little kid, "that I like this little swim we're having. Don't you?" She turned to look at him, but her words caught in her throat, because he was staring intently at her. She closed her mouth and looked back into his eyes. He leaned in and captured her lips with his. They sat like that for some time before she pulled away.

"I have to go. If somebody wakes up and finds that I'm gone, I'll be in trouble." Her faced was flushed a deep crimson. She clumsily tried to get out of the water, and then succeeded.

"Why leave now, it was just getting fun." Protested Aiden.

"I said I have to go." She picked up her clothes and started running.

"We'll see each other again, don't worry!" He yelled softly behind her as she ran away into the night.


End file.
